The Grays Harbor Gulls FC have laid the foundation for a successful program

ABERDEEN — When more than 20 soccer players from around the Twin Harbors showed up for tryouts in December, Grays Harbor Gulls head coach Drew Grannemann was hoping he’d look back eight months later and be satisfied with the results.

It’s safe to say Grannemann is pleased with the way things turned out.

In the team’s inaugural season, the Gulls have a shot at third place in the Western Washington Premier League and have impressed the coaching staff with their play as a unit.

Grannemann said it has been fulfilling to watch the same players who he worked with and went up against as a high school coach at Aberdeen come together on a new team.

“Since we hosted the first kick around in December it’s been a constant test for me and (assistant coach) Ben Barene to get these guys to come together as one unit,” he said. “It’s been so much fun to watch these guys who used to compete against each other so furiously play so fluidly together that they know where each other are going to be without having to look up.”

The Gull’s head coach had the job of getting his players adjusted to the new league and skill level of the WWPL.

Grannemann had experience coaching at the high school level but this season was his first time coaching an adult semi-pro league.

Despite the learning curve that came with his new job, Grannemann said he was put at ease knowing even the more experienced teams were figuring things out on the fly as well.

“It was so much fun and really nerve-racking to step outside of my element. There was a culture shock,” he said. “When I went and scouted some of these players around the league at the beginning of the season it was more of a motivating factor that they were doing the same thing we were trying to do.”

One thing the Gulls have been doing lately is finding a way to score goals. Outside of last week’s shutout loss to Kirkland FC, the team has found success putting the ball in the back of the net, particularly when Juanito Lopez is taking the shots.

Lopez has a team-leading 11 goals and has provided a solid passing option to a group of midfielders that the coaching staff was hoping would be one of the team’s strong suits.

Neither one of Grays Harbor coaches thinks the season should be completely defined by where the Gulls land in the standings, but finishing in the top half of the table probably won’t hurt fan support.

According to Barene 100 or more fans showed up to five of the team’s six home games at Stewart Field.

Grannemann said he’s been having a lot more soccer-related conversations with fans around the county who may not know a whole lot about the sport.

“I get people stopping me on the street talking about soccer who know nothing about soccer,” he said. “They’re just interested because they are so excited to see this new thing pop up in Grays Harbor.”

The fan support has put the team in a good position financially as well. Barene said revenue generated from attendance has allowed the club to minimize the costs passed down to the players. He added the lack of other semi-pro sports in the area has galvanized the community.

“Our money comes from sponsors so we’re basically a fan-owned team and I think the fans took pride in that, in coming out and supporting a local team,” he said. “We’re the only high-level sports team around without the Bearcats and the Gulls baseball team, so I think the fans rallied around that too.”

Grannemann is pleased with the way things have gone in the team’s first year and he doesn’t think the team has hit its ceiling yet. He hopes that anybody who was on the fence about joining the Gulls in 2018 will reconsider when the 2019 season kicks off.

“We want to be attracting new players who maybe didn’t believe in the Gulls at first and thought we were just going to be another club team,” he said. “Hopefully, after the season we will have validated ourselves a little bit. We’re playing competitive soccer at a high level and we are competing with these teams from huge cities and hopefully that brings people out of the woodwork.”